John Ward is the Chief Investment Officer of Bridge Investment Group’s Office Division and a Principal at Bridge Commercial Real Estate.
Flexibility is a skill everyone has had to sharpen and fine-tune this year, from couples postponing weddings to airlines waiving change fees and companies taking crash courses on how to work virtually. Now roughly eight months into the global coronavirus pandemic, many are learning just how far they can bend — and that bouncing back will take some time and even more creativity. The same holds true for companies readying to return to office workplaces. While remote work may work for some and the lower-cost structure initially may be appealing, companies have also learned its limitations from practical experiences, too. Research has found that team creativity thrives when employees can collaborate live in real time, and lower levels of creativity can equate to lower overall profitability over time.
Many younger employees, who have the most to gain from mentorship and learning opportunities that come with working in a shared office, particularly want to come back. According to an analysis on the future of work by Cushman & Wakefield, 70% of Gen Z and 69% of millennials surveyed reported challenges while working from home.
With proper health measures and new guidelines in place, employees are slowly but surely returning to offices for the face-to-face collaboration, culture and work-life balance they’ve been missing while staying home. Looking ahead, office landlords must be more flexible as well to meet companies where they are and help get them where they want to be. This need for flexibility — in terms of the size of the office and what is included, length of leases and the role of the landlord — was already an evolving trend in recent years, thanks to the popularity of coworking operators such as WeWork, Industrious and others.
Now a new blueprint is emerging for the next-generation office model that stands to benefit both parties: enterprise flex.
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